Grand Canyon University: ESL-434 Advanced Principles of SEI Instruction and Assessment Sep 24, 2012 (O101) October 21, 2012
Using SEI Strategies in a SIOP Lesson Plan
This lesson should be taught in a sixth grade class. The students do not have to be English Language Learners, (ELL) in order to benefit from this lesson and meet state standards. It is an interactive way to learn about different geographic regions of students in the class.
The lesson should first be introduced to the class through the vocabulary. This gives the students the back ground on the words used to describe what the lesson is about, and allows them to use the words in context with what they are doing. These words should not just be stated and defined. The students should be discussing them with the teacher. The teacher should be asking them questions about the vocabulary like, “does anyone know what climate means?” Students also should be given the opportunity to interact with one another and listen to what is being said out-loud verbally. The vocabulary should be put into their vocabulary journals and should be reviewed when the lesson is over. The vocabulary words should be displayed for the students. The reason to display the vocabulary words is that this helps the students to remember the words as they develop greater proficiency in language.
The vocabulary journal should not just be words and definitions. It should have the words and the definitions along with a pictorial drawing of the word. Students may not be able to write clearly in English what the definition of the word actually is, and they may not remember all of the English words for the definition. It is important to have them represent the word in a picture to help them remember what the definition is by looking at the picture. By having the student create the brochure about where they are from you are opening the door to a variety of different types of geographic locations for the class to discuss. Some students may be from different states, and some students may be from different countries. Also, giving them an assignment about where they are from utilizes one of the “best practices,” in instructing ELL’s in the classroom according to Chamot. “Effective bilingual and ESL teachers utilize instructional practices that value and draw from students' native language(s) and culture(s).” (Chamot, 1993). They can explain their culture to the class in a fun interactive way that allows them to be who they are and where they are from, and allows the class to better understand them.
Another good practice for the lesson is modeling. Through modeling what the student is supposed to do they are getting an example of how to complete the actual lesson. This helps them to be more successful at completing the project. Students need to have examples of what you want them to do. This helps them to have a greater understanding of the expectations the teacher has for them.
Reading about geology in their history books will also help them gain knowledge about the geographical region throughout the world. They can build on their vocabulary to help them learn this content. By reading a travel brochure together as a class the student will have the experience of seeing an actual travel brochure, and they will know what they should or should not include in the brochure that they make for their home town. This gives them background experience in what a travel brochure is. This combined with the modeling is a form of scaffolding to help the student be able to perform the task independently.
The assessment method that I chose was to define the vocabulary words. This is in my opinion the surest way to know they understand and can comprehend the meaning in what they are doing. However there will be students who do not understand the entire quiz possibly and they need to be accounted for. Students should be allowed to respond orally, and...